Weber conceded it was her opinion, but the pound doesn't meet state standards.

The issue had been brought up by Crittenden, who questioned why the county is paying for carbon monoxide to destroy animals at the pound in Stormont and for the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society to kill dogs in Gloucester.

County Administrator Charles M. Culley Jr. explained that when dogs are put into the carbon monoxide chamber at the pound, they bark and howl and scratch at the walls, trying to escape as they suffocate. The animal warden doesn't want to listen to that, Culley said.

Assistant Administrator Marcia Jones said the chamber is used for cats and for certain emergencies, such as when a severely injured dog must be destroyed immediately. The warden does not have injectable drugs for euthanasia or the certification to use them.

Crittenden defended conditions at the pound, saying that when the state inspects anything, it always finds something wrong. Fifty percent of the residents of Middlesex don't live in accommodations as comfortable as what the state requires for pounds, he said.

Contacted by a Daily Press reporter after the supervisors' meeting, state animal health inspector Robert Puryear said Middlesex's pound "can no way meet the standards."

Animals are not protected from temperature extremes, records aren't kept, the warden hasn't been trained as required by state law, and the facility isn't properly lighted or sanitized, he said.

"It's nowhere near compliant and it can't be made in compliance," Puryear said.

Still, he said, the state would move to shut it down only as a last resort.

The state would like to see Middlesex arrange for some other pound or shelter to take its animals, Puryear said. A new pound in Middlesex probably would be too costly, he said.

Tonya Higgins, a veterinarian who is president of the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society, said in a telephone interview that euthanasia in a carbon monoxide chamber is allowed by the state and is humane when done properly by a trained operator.

She compared it with the feeling of anesthesia given to a human before surgery. The dog becomes drowsy within about 60 seconds, its brain goes to sleep and it dies painlessly in another two to three minutes, she said.

During the period of unconsciousness, dogs make reflex howls and have seizure-like limb movements, she said, but they are not hurting. "Those can be really, really unnerving to those who are watching or listening," Higgins said.

Injections are the preferred method of euthanasia because the animal can be held and soothed. Sometimes, though, that would be cruel, she said. An animal not used to being touched by humans would be terrorized by being held down. Also, a chamber is used for vicious, dangerous dogs that might bite.

If the gas and air in the chamber are not mixed properly, a dog could suffocate rather than die without panic, she said.

"We are going to have to handle our animals different from what we're doing," Weber said after the meeting. "I don't care if they are strays, they still have to be treated in a humane way."

The county paid the humane society $375 last month for putting down dogs, she said. She did not know details. Jones said there are no records of the number of animals at the pound and what happened to them.

Janis Bishop, business manager of the humane society, said the group took 24 dogs from the pound in September. "For whatever reason, they were in terrible condition. They had to be euthanized," Bishop said.

Jones said someone had complained about "starving dogs" at the pound to the humane society, but the dogs were already starved when they were brought in.

"It's a horrible, horrible place for keeping the animals," Bishop said. The society is trying to work with the county to improve conditions, she said.

In other matters:

DELTAVILLE WATER. The supervisors agreed the county should have a test well dug to see if water is available for a public water system in the Deltaville area.

After the test, they said, the county will be able to provide more information to people who own land in the possible service area.

The well is planned for county-owned land off of Route 660. The test will help determine the cost of the project, Crittenden said.

PAYING INTEREST. Treasurer Anita S. Wilson told the supervisors that interest on a loan for renovation of the old St. Clare Walker School building into office space has cost taxpayers $4,363.37.

Supervisors have rejected two sets of bids for the renovation, saying the cost is too high. They borrowed the money a year ago.

Wilson said she didn't know about the loan until the bank called to ask why she hadn't signed the papers.

GETTING A REFUND. Stephen B. Geissler of the Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority presented the supervisors a check for $10,450, the county's share of retained earnings by VPPSA.

Competition between two commercial landfills - BFI in King and Queen County and Waste Management in Gloucester County - has resulted in lower trash disposal fees, he said.